Going Off the Grid
by InsertBrillianceHere
Summary: And then finally it is the summer break and he hasn't got a job lined up, he hasn't got a girlfriend and he hasn't stopped thinking about her.   And then it hit him, the one real thing he's got going for him at the moment: the Ultimate Insider.
1. Chapter 1

_**So I got most of the ideas for this story from the various spoilers and speculations thrown around the Spoiler Thread on TWoP; I'm just too excited for what may happen at the end of this season and the beginning of next season. This is basically what I want to happen! I don't own anything and please review!**_

**Chapter 1**

"_I have some news… I'm engaged."_

If Blair Waldorf had left this message on his phone just six months ago, Dan would have laughed, but then again, six months ago Blair would never have called Dan to announce _any_ news. Now, he just feels sick. He wasn't sure what Blair wanted him to do with this new piece of information or if she even wanted him to do anything at all.

_Three months previously…_

Everything was starting to become all too much; in short: it had been one hell of an emotional rollercoaster for Daniel Humphrey over the past few weeks. He could blame it all on his "all-consuming, paralysing thought" just two weeks ago, but if he was being perfectly honest with himself it went even further back than that. Just as their first meeting, their first realisation that they had anything in common had started with Serena.

_Serena_. She had been his first love, his first time, his muse and his gateway in to the Upper East Side; she had changed him from 'Lonely Boy' to the 'Ultimate Insider' – he still wasn't sure which was better. But now, Dan was beginning to realise, perhaps the biggest thing Serena Van der Woodsen had ever done for him had been completely by mistake; she had unwittingly instigated a Humphrey-Waldorf partnership. And from that partnership grew (much to the distaste and even resistance of both parties) a friendship. If only it could have stopped there. Because Dan had kissed her, well, rather _she_ had kissed _him,_ but it was his idea and it was this idea that had gotten him into this mess. As Eric had so eloquently put it: he was _"ass-backwards crushing on Blair Waldorf"._ In his defence though, she does smell very nice. But apparently it wasn't meant to be because while he was left reeling after what he felt was a "weird-good" kiss, it seemed that Blair felt quite the opposite; "weird-bad". If anything, it was as if the kiss had pushed her further away from him and closer towards Chuck. But then she was off Chuck again; it was beginning to get a little confusing.

And then out of the blue came Prince Louis. _Unbelievable_. If it had been anywhere else in the world but the Upper East Side, Dan was sure this would never have happened. But Dan had taken this as his very obvious sign from the Universe that it was time to bow out of the race for Blair Waldorf's heart whilst his dignity was still in tact. And he had tried, he had tried very hard to be a good friend to her even going so far as to be involved in another one of her crazy-bound-to-blow-up-in-her-face schemes. She asked him to kiss her again so the Prince's mother would think she was in a relationship with him, and he had obliged (albeit a little more happily than was probably necessary) and it had blown up in both their faces. Charlie, Serena's cousin and latest worshipper, had caught them on camera and sent the video to Gossip Girl; the OMG-factor was off the Richter scale. They had both tried to explain to Serena that it had truly been _nothing_, that they were just friends (which was surprising in itself), and Serena had just given them a look of confusion, her head slightly tilted because she knew that there was something she was not seeing, something that they were not telling her. And Dan knew why, it was because she could feel it too; the energy in the room – the almost crackling of electricity between him and Blair as they finished each other's sentences and sent almost affectionate barbs each other's way.

He then retreated back to the safety and comfort of the loft but he was not alone for long. Vanessa showed up full of confessions, and he snapped; he finally cut the cord on their friendship. Not long after, Charlie showed up full of apologies, and they created some sort of new friendship. She told him that she knew he had feelings for Blair, and he was too tired to deny it, _"I never thought that the one I would want would be Blair". _Charlie had been a good friend for the next few days and even though he had an inkling that she may have more than just step-cousin-y feelings for him, he needed a companion so he invited her to the latest of the Upper East Side events. That night was a blur really; one minute the Prince was wanting to propose, and then the next Chuck was wanting to propose, and all Dan really wanted to do was forget this tiresome, irritating and highly-inappropriate crush on Blair Waldorf, so when Charlie dragged him into some conveniently empty room he didn't refuse her come-ons. With every kiss, and every gasp, and every moan all he could do was imagine it was Blair, and he knew it was wrong and he knew that he should stop. And when Charlie whispered into his ear that she was a virgin, that was all the cold water he needed, he pulled away full of apologies and explanations that her first time should be special and not with somebody thinking of someone else. And that was when Serena walked in.

Serena had yelled, and Charlie had yelled, and he had half-heartedly tried to defend himself. He was surprised to find that for the first time in a very long time he didn't really care what Serena thought of him. In fact, he was more relieved that it had been her and not Blair to walk in on them – _how could he be so stupid? _So he had left the two cousins to sort out their differences while he sought out Blair. It didn't take him long to find her, chatting amongst New York's elite. He quietly pulled her aside and looked at her, _really_ looked at her. And he asked her, "Does he make you happy?" and he can't be sure but he likes to think that she hesitated before she answered, "yes". So he told himself that this is what is most important, that it doesn't matter who 'he' is as long as she is happy with him; that if he really cares for her he will let her go because that's what friends do and he would rather be in her life as her friend than not at all. He offered her his hand, somewhat reminiscent of a few weeks ago when they decided to end their 'non-friendship' but instead of shaking his hand, she pulled him towards her in a tight embrace and automatically he wrapped his arms around her petite frame and breathed in her scent.

For the next few days he threw himself into the family drama, selfishly trying to use Lilly Van der Woodsen's impending jail sentence as a distraction. He avoided talking with Eric (who kept sending knowing looks his way), apologised once more to Charlie, and tried to apologise to Serena. He knew that he was neglecting his writing but did not try to rectify that because he was scared of what might come of it. He sat his finals and briefly wondered if Blair bothered to even attend hers. And then finally it is the summer break and he hasn't got a job lined up, he hasn't got a girlfriend and he hasn't stopped thinking about her. And then it hit him, the one real thing he's got going for him at the moment: _the Ultimate Insider_. So he privately asked Lilly for the excessive amount of money that she has offered to him many times since their families united and he decided to live the life that he has for years now denied himself. He used to laugh in a holier-than-thou way at the idea that these Upper East-Siders would just swan off to whatever place in the world they chose at the drop of a hat but suddenly the idea of going off the grid for a while, maybe working on his writing, sounded exactly like what he needed. Because it's not just a crush anymore, it hasn't been for a while. So he left a note for his father, he packed his bags, and he walked out the door.

Not long after the door slams on the now empty loft, Dan's forgotten phone buzzes obnoxiously. Blair leaves him a message, not knowing that he won't receive it for another three months: "_I have some news… I'm engaged."_

_**So what do you think? The next chapter will be on everyone's (and more importantly Blair's) reactions to Dan's return – What has he been doing all summer? Has the summer changed him? Has it changed how he feels about Blair? And who did Blair choose in the end?**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**It's that time of year again Upper East Siders; time to ditch your summer fling, throw out last year's designer swimwear and make your way back to the city because Summer is officially over. But don't be too sad to say goodbye to whichever place you holidayed, be it the Hamptons, Paris or (like our favorite Blonde Bombshell) California because have I got some welcome home news for you! Spotted: Lonely Boy, finally making an appearance on our radar after three long months, exiting what looks to be an Upper East Sider town car in… Brooklyn. It seems you can take the Upper East Sider out of Brooklyn, but can you really ever take the Brooklyn out of the Upper East Sider? Maybe B can answer that question; it wasn't long after Lonely Boy disappeared off our radar that Miss Queen B ended her engagement with her Prince. And whilst she still does stand by her Bass man for richer or poorer, we all know how much our B loves to be in denial – or should I say dair-nial? You know you love me, xoxo Gossip Girl.**_

_Typical_, thought Dan. He hadn't been back in the city for more than five minutes and already there was a blast announcing his return – so much for a quiet night in with pizza and _Roman Holiday_. It seemed that he would have to face the onslaught of his father's imminent lecture earlier than planned. He had hoped after hearing Blair's voicemail just a few minutes ago that he would at least be able to have some sort of time to himself tonight to process everything. But then again, he had had three months worth of time and _still_ the sound of her voice made his heart leap. His summer had been everything he could have ever dreamed of: there had been fiestas in Barcelona, culture in Paris, sunshine in the Greek islands, absinthe in Prague (but that was a whole other story) and writing all over.

_Writing._ Oh yes, there had been a whole lot of writing! Two weeks into his trip in a little café in Rome, Dan had sat down in front of his laptop, for the first time since he had left the loft and began to write. Since then, he had barely been able to stop. Everything he had ever wanted to say (including everything he hadn't even _known_ he had wanted to say) seemed to burst out of him through his fingertips; it was if a dam had been broken. What had started out as a short story had gradually increased into what he was proud to call his first novel…if he could ever finish it; those last few chapters were proving to be much more difficult than he could ever have anticipated. He had hoped that with a few more days privacy in the loft he would be able to decide which direction to take the story but it seemed that life, or Gossip Girl at least, had other plans for him. So with some resignation he dialled his father's number into his phone and hit the call button.

"Dan!" the familiar voice of his father, though sounding somewhat exasperated, brought a smile to his face.

"Yeah, hi dad, it's me. I just walked through the door."

"Yeah, yeah… Hang on a second" Dan heard what he could only assume to be pots and pans clattering in the background and then a loud "OW! Damn, sorry Dan, you caught me at a bad time, I'm just cooking my famous Chilli; I'm having the family around for dinner." There was a pause, and Dan waited for the penny to drop, "Which would mean that _you_ should be coming over for dinner!"

Dan laughed, "Yeah look dad, I only just got home and I wouldn't want to impose; I'm sure you don't have enough for all of us…"

"Nonsense! You know I always make too much Chilli anyway, and since when has my son ever been an imposition? Dan, I have a very well-rehearsed lecture waiting for you, which won't have the same effect over the phone, so get yourself over here by seven. Oh crap, I think something's burning, I gotta go, I'll see you soon!" And with that Rufus hung up the phone. Dan checked the time on his phone, 5:36pm; just enough time to unpack, shower, dress and head over to the Upper East Side. For some reason, Dan felt like he was heading for death row.

_..._

When Blair returned home to the penthouse that evening she was exhausted; too exhausted to even bother forcing friendly conversation with Serena who had returned a few days earlier from California. Luckily, the blonde bombshell was out with her new beau and Darota, foreseeing Blair's exhaustion, had run a bath for her. After what felt like hours, Blair exited the bathroom decidedly more refreshed and happier than when she had entered but that did not last for long. Blair had grown up with Darota as her maid and therefore found it very easy to pick up on anything the maid might be hiding from her. And the way that Darota was standing, nervously twiddling her thumbs and avoiding all eye contact caused alarm bells to go off in the Upper East-Sider's head. Rolling her eyes, Blair demanded, "Out with it. And don't bother denying there's nothing wrong, you won't even make eye contact with me." Sighing, Darota slowly raised her eyes to look at Blair and quietly handed her Blair's phone with the latest Gossip Girl blast on it. Blair was acutely aware of Darota's worried eyes on her as she read the blast, "So?" Blair challenged, and if there was a slight hitch in her voice the maid had the good sense to ignore it.

"Nothing, Miss Blair, but does this mean you will still be attending the Humphrey-Van der Woodsen's dinner tonight?"

"I don't see why not, besides Chuck wants me there." She replied defensively.

"But Lonely Boy will be there, and Miss Vanessa said – "

"_Darota_!" Blair furiously interrupted, "Whatever that low-life cretin, Vanessa, may or may not have said to me about what Dan Humphrey may or may not have felt is irrelevant to my being at the Van der Woodsen's apartment this evening! _Got it_?"

"But you – "

"_I did nothing!"_ she all but screeched causing the maid to jump back a bit in fright, taking a deep breath in and silently counting backwards from ten, she continued more calmly, "Dan Humphrey and I are just friends, actually no, we are _less_ than friends. He left for the summer without so much as a _word_ goodbye and now he just _waltzes_ back into the city and if he expects me to – " but whatever Dan expected Blair to do was interrupted by her phone ringing. Seizing the distraction, Blair snatched up her phone and breathed out a sigh of relief, "_Chuck_."

"Blair," he drawled back in a whisper, "I'm going to be running late this evening, my PI has just stumbled across something very _interesting_ to do with Jack, do you mind if I meet you at the Van der Woodsens?"

"Oh, of course not," replied Blair, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice; she had been hoping to spend some alone time with Chuck before the dinner tonight, which was something that they rarely got to do ever since he had decided to rebuild his legacy.

"Good." And he hung up. Blair stared at the phone in her hands, allowing herself a moment of vulnerability before she shook her head, masked her features and defiantly looked up at Darota,

"Change of plans Darota or, should I say, change of outfit…I'm thinking the Dior _Tropical Batik_!" she smirked as she flounced over to her wardrobe.

...

When Dan entered his dad and Lilly's apartment at the Palace he was wracked with a combination of nerves and guilt. He knew that it would not be easy returning to his family in the Upper East Side after he had basically ditched them just after Lilly's jail sentence had been announced. And even though Serena had done a very similar thing; that was to be expected of her; not of Dan though because he was the responsible, reliable Brooklynite. So when his father, Eric and Charlie, immediately embraced him respectively, you could say that he was more than a little surprised. "Wow, guys it's great to see you and all," he said looking around at their smiling faces, "but I thought you would have – "

"Been mad at you?" asked Eric knowingly; the boy was much wiser than his years.

"Well… yeah." Replied Dan dumbly

"Honestly, son, we were." Said Rufus, "but after you've been through something like our family has, what with Lilly being sent to prison, you start to realise that if you love someone you can't hold their mistakes against them, especially if they were made with good intentions."

"How very…Zen of you." Said Dan, a small smile beginning to appear on his lips, "So was that my lecture then?"

"God no!" shouted Rufus, with a grin on his face, "I've been working too hard on that lecture to just let it go; I've even been practicing on Charlie!"

"He has." Quipped Charlie smirking as Dan raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"It'll have to wait until after dinner," continued Rufus as he walked back to the kitchen, "we don't have time now, besides, the others should be here soon!"

As the three headed to the lounge room and sat down, Dan asked Eric quietly, "The others?"

"Serena and her boyfriend, Ethan, and Chuck and… Blair." Replied Eric warily.

"Chuck and Blair? As in _ChuckandBlair_ Chuck and Blair?" Dan asked casually, his eyes betraying how much the idea hurt him.

"Didn't you get that Gossip Girl blast this morning?" Asked Charlie gently, as if she was talking to a child about to hear that their pet Labrador had just died.

"I did, I just… wasn't sure how much of it was true." Dan muttered avoiding all eye contact. Dan was saved further pitying looks by the ding of the elevator alerting them all to the presence of the whirlwind that is Serena Van der Woodsen. As she swept in with her new boyfriend in tow, the three Humphrey-Van de Woodsens stood up and greeted them. Dan tried to distract himself by engaging in small-talk with Ethan, and really tried to pay attention to when he went on about whatever pretentious film he was working on at the moment (with Serena as his muse of course) but all he could think about was the inevitable ding of the elevator that would signal the entrance of Blair… and Chuck.

He didn't have to wait long it turned out, for not five minutes later, the elevator doors slid open and, as if in slow-motion, out stepped Blair Waldorf. If Dan didn't know better, he could have sworn she was dressed specifically to punish him because she was wearing a very, very short orange and white silk dress with a white-rope cinching it in at her tiny waist and he couldn't take his eyes off her. Eric, noticing this, subtly poked Dan in the ribs to gain his attention and whispered, "_Close your mouth._"

"Right." Dan replied, jerking out of his Blair-induced coma, "this is going to be a _long_ night."

...

_**A/N: First off, just wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you for all the reviews and alerts; I am beyond flattered! I hope you enjoyed this chapter; it was a little harder for me to write than the last but I had fun with it. Hopefully Dan hasn't come off as pining pathetically for Blair because that is the last thing I would want to happen and I'm trying to be really wary of that. I just figured that since his emotions are already out in the open I could be quite blatant about them. The next chapter will be the beginning of a lot more Blair/Dan interaction and show a little more insight into what is going on in that Waldorf head. Please review and let me know what you thought! **_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Looking around the table, Blair couldn't _believe_ that everybody was buying into this Ethan guy's pretentious crap. As much as she loved Serena, the blonde really did have some awful taste in men, except for Nate of course. Finally her eyes made contact with Dan Humphrey, the _worst_ of all of Serena's boyfriends as far as she was concerned, and she noticed that he too seemed to be less than impressed by Ethan's latest short film. He was sitting next to Blair (much to her chagrin), and you'd think that he would have noticed Blair's calculating gaze on him but he seemed to be rather distracted by looking at anything or anyone _but_ her. His eyes were darting all over the Van der Woodsen's apartment and he visibly gulped when Blair made the slightest shuffle in her seat to make herself more comfortable.

Blair smirked and wondered if this perhaps had to do with the fact that he had a very easily accessible view of her legs, which were in her opinion one of her greatest assets; all he had to do was look down and slightly to his left. Deciding to test this theory, Blair asked some inane question of Ethan, automatically drawing the table's (and more importantly Dan's) attention to herself and then she oh-so-casually crossed her right leg over her left, causing the dress to slip up her thigh and expose even more of her skin to the defenceless Humphrey and an amused Eric who was sitting on her other side and seemed to have figured out exactly what Blair was doing. That was when she felt it; the intensity of his gaze on her legs caused a heat to rush through her, creating a soft flush on her cheeks. Almost against her will, she once again looked at Dan and this time his eyes made contact with hers. She forgot to breath under his scorching stare, the want she saw in his darkened eyes made her instinctively lick her lips, which only drew his attention there. And in an instant she had a flashback of their first kiss: the strength of his arms as they encircled her, the warmth of his body pressed firmly against hers, the heat of his breath and, surrounded by slight stubble, the softness of his lips as they moved against hers.

"Chuck!" cried out Serena, unwittingly throwing a figurative bucket of ice-cold water over her best friend and ex-boyfriend. Blair instantly jumped out of her chair, pulled down her dress and drew in a big breath of air. Trying to put as much space between her and Dan Humphrey as possible, she ran over to her boyfriend.

"Hi!" she gasped out in relief and kissed him full on the mouth, very much aware of Dan Humphrey's eyes on her.

"Hi," replied Chuck, once her lips withdrew from his, confusion apparent in his eyes. Disentangling himself from his girlfriend he walked over to Serena and gave her a hug, "welcome home," he said warmly.

"Dan! Set out another place for Chuck," ordered Serena, with a smile on her face as Chuck shot a glance in Blair's direction at the mention of the returned Humphrey, "Chuck, you have to come meet my boyfriend, Ethan, you'll love him!"

"As much as I would love to meet you latest… _beau,_ Serena," Chuck murmured, "I actually have a last-minute meeting to attend in about ten minutes; I just came by to say welcome home."

Disappointment graced Serena's features as Rufus offered, "You sure you can't just postpone this one, Chuck? I've made my world famous Chilli!"

"I'm afraid not Rufus," he answered, his lip curling slightly at the mention of 'Chilli'. Turning towards the rest of the family sitting at the dining table he continued, "Charlie, Eric it's always a pleasure. Ethan, maybe next time if you're around long enough." And finally his eyes landed on Dan, "Humphrey." He muttered, a look of disdain appearing on his features.

"_Bass."_ Replied Dan in a mocking imitation of Chuck's patented whisper, silently laughing at Chuck's obvious attempt at intimidation.

Rolling her eyes, her words full of exasperation Blair said, "Come on Chuck, I'll walk you to the elevator, I need to talk to you."

Raising his eyebrows at her almost ominous words, Chuck, indicating with his arms towards the elevator doors replied, "after you."

But it seemed that they would not have much time to talk at all because as soon as Blair pressed the button for the elevator, the doors slid open and Chuck stepped in. Blair immediately pressed her hands up against the doors, thereby preventing them from closing in her face, _"What could be so important that you had to schedule it during your family dinner, Chuck?"_ came her whispered demand, not wanting the Humphrey-Van der Woodsens to hear their exchange.

"_Blair_," said Chuck in what Blair thought was an irritatingly condescending tone, "How many times do I have to tell you? If I'm going to rebuild the Bass legacy as my own I'm going to have to – "

"_Work long hours."_ She interrupted, "I _know,_ Chuck, but they're your family and they gave you plenty of warning for this dinner! Not to mention we haven't had any alone time in what feels like weeks!"

"I don't have time for this; what's this _really_ about?" demanded Chuck, who was becoming more impatient by the second.

"What are you – "

"That's an interesting choice of attire for a _family_ dinner, Blair." He said scathingly, looking her up and down and reaching forward to finger the hemline, "Did you wear that for my benefit… or _his_?" he asked, nodding his head toward the dining room.

"What are you – … Who are you – … I don't know what you're – " Blair was almost too angry for words, "I wear what I wear because _I _like it! I wore this for _myself_, Chuck! My God, I couldn't possibly have worn if for _you_ because I haven't seen you properly in _weeks_!"

"I don't have time to go over this argument again, Blair. I'm already running late. I'll come by the penthouse tonight and you can yell at me then."

"Don't bother!" replied Blair, sticking her chin out defiantly, "We can talk about this tomorrow; I'll yell at you on my _own_ time." And with that she let go of her hold on the elevator doors and let them slide shut on the annoyed face of her boyfriend.

Blair took this moment of privacy to calm herself before she returned to the family dinner. Her relationship with Chuck had been what Blair would call '_strained'_ at best these past couple of months. After she had ditched Louis, realised that Dan had ditched her (_not_ that this had any effect on Blair_ whatsoever_), and then learned that Chuck had ditched _Bass Industries_ in order to protect her honor, Blair had returned to him. Big romantic gestures of these kind were what epic romances were made of; and who was she to deny her destiny with Chuck any longer? _ChuckandBlair, BlairandChuck_.

The first month had been great. Not _exactly_ as she had remembered but, as she often reminded herself, a lot had changed since then and this was to be expected until they got back into the swing of things. And then the second month had happened and Chuck had decided, with Blair's full support of course, that he would rebuild his legacy, from the ground up if he had to. And so he had thrown himself into his work, and Blair suddenly finding herself alone in the city and without entertainment applied for a job as an assistant to Epperley. But even with work to keep her occupied during the day, Blair was not distracted from the many nights she had alone. And she _hated_ that suddenly she had become so reliant on Chuck for entertainment; she missed Serena and… well, she missed Serena. So she convinced herself that this was only the first stage of Chuck rebuilding his legacy; surely if she just waited, eventually he would be able to pay her more attention once his business started to develop. But now it was the end of the third month of their relationship (if you could call it that) and she was frustrated, and he was frustrated; they were just one big _frustrated_ mess who spent their brief pockets of time together fighting.

Sighing, Blair plastered the best attempt she had at a smile on her face and returned to her seat at the dining table where the conversation had once again returned to Ethan's short film. This time, Blair didn't even make an effort at pretending to listen to whatever spiel was coming out of Ethan's mouth, instead she focused on her breathing and tried to finish her meal. Her hands were shaking from restrained anger and Dan, noticing this, leaned toward Blair and whispered, "_Are you Ok?"_

"_We are _not_ friends Humphrey, so I really don't see how my wellbeing effects you!"_ Blair hissed back, carefully looking around to see if anybody had noticed their private exchange; they hadn't.

"Blair," Dan all but groaned, "_I thought we were past this!"_

"_We were,"_ she quipped back lightly before her expression darkened, "_Until you saw fit to just runaway to God knows where, leaving me by myself in the city (and don't act like you didn't know Serena had left too), without even a word or message goodbye. I had to hear it from _Charlie_ can you imagine the humiliation!"_ Dan opened his mouth to interrupt her but she quickly held her hand up to prevent him from doing so and said for the second time that evening, "_Don't bother."_

"_But I – "_ he attempted helplessly, only now just realising the full extent of the damage he had done to his and Blair's already precarious friendship by leaving without a word.

"_I've already had one friend disappear off the map without saying goodbye,"_ and here her eyes darted automatically over to Serena, who was smiling up at her new boyfriend, "_and I forgave her because she was my _best_ friend. You don't even rate Humphrey; consider whatever went on between us as my own failed attempt at _charity." And with that she rose suddenly, the scraping of her chair interrupting the rest of the table's conversation. Choosing to ignore the hurt expression on Dan's face she announced, "Thank you for dinner, Rufus. It was lovely to see you all again but I really must be going now; Epperley is having dinner with her in-laws tonight, which means I have to head home now and mentally prepare myself for what will be a very hung over boss tomorrow."

"Oh, B! You sure you can't just stay a little longer? Ethan was going to show us some of his films!" cried out Serena, her eyes begging her friend to stay and support this new relationship.

Blair merely smiled at this, thanking her lucky Manolos that she had decided to leave before she was bored to death, "I'm sorry S but as much as I would just _love_ to watch one of Ethan's uh… _films_ I really must get my beauty sleep." And then out of nowhere, a small scheme formed in her mind giving her a slight thrill. Instantly masking her features with a look of pure innocence (which, incidentally caused alarm bells to go off in Dan's head), she said in a sickly-sweet fashion, "Humphrey here however, was just telling me how much he _really_ wanted to watch them tonight; and I mean _all _of them." Her eyes dancing with laughter, she smiled down at Dan evilly who was gaping at her in shock, "See?" she cried out with unrestrained enthusiasm, looking around at the rest of the table, "He's lost for words he's so excited! Ethan! Make sure he gets to watch them _all_, I know Humphrey would feel as if he had sorely missed out if he didn't get to see even just one of them!" Suppressing an evil cackle, because that was just not becoming of a lady in public, she instead allowed herself a small victory smirk as she strolled casually out of the apartment.

…

Later that evening Blair was curled up in her bed, watching _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ and munching on a pistachio macaroon. It was nearing midnight but she wasn't feeling the least bit tired and she had lied to Serena earlier when she said she had to work tomorrow; it was in fact her day off, which meant that she would have plenty of time to "catch up on her beauty sleep". Paul had just picked up the engraved ring from Tiffany's when she heard a soft knock at her door. With what was admittedly an un-ladylike huff, Blair clambered out of bed and tossed on her silk bathrobe. Opening the door to her room she expected to be faced with an apologetic Chuck since Serena had decided to spend the night at Ethan's hotel room but she was surprised instead to be faced with an apologetic Humphrey.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she asked, trying to force some venom into her voice.

"I come bearing gifts!" Dan replied warily, waving a copy of _An Affair to Remember_ and a tub of _Il Labatorio's _salted caramel gelato with two spoons under her nose, "And also a heartfelt apology. You were right Blair; me leaving without even a word goodbye was unforgivably rude, I shouldn't have taken our friendship for granted but you _have_ to understand that I really just needed to – "

"Stop!" cried out Blair trying hard not to smile, "Humphrey, you're babbling."

"Right. Sorry." He muttered, laughing nervously. "Look," he said, indicating towards the gelato, "the ice cream's melting. Can I come in? I was thinking we could make up for lost time with a Classic Hollywood movie marathon or something…"

"_Humphrey_," Blair sighed, not wanting to give in too easily, "it's nearly midnight and – "

"Well, I would have been here earlier," he interrupted, "but _someone_ decided that I would just _love_ to see all of Ethan's short-films. Do you know how many he had?"

"How many?" asked Blair, smirking slightly now.

"Well, I'm actually not too sure on the exact number but it did take two and a half_ hours_, Blair. Surely that's punishment enough?" Dan pleaded, his eyes searching her face for any signs of mercy.

"Not _nearly_ enough! You know me better than that by now, Cabbage Patch." She chided.

"Cabbage Patch? You haven't called me that in a while," he murmured, his eyes hopeful now.

"I thought it was about due for a come-back," she retorted, raising her eyebrows in silent challenge.

"_Waldorf_" he whined, "the ice cream is starting to make my hand go numb, _please_ forgive me? I'll watch as many Audrey Hepburn movies as it takes!"

"As if _that_ is such a sacrifice," she scoffed and then finally she allowed herself to look into those pleading puppy-dog eyes (no wonder he reminded Darota of a Labrador) and when she thought about it she really could do with an extra friend, sighing she could already feel her resolve weakening.

"_Please?"_ he wheedled.

"Oh! _Fine_!" she cried, "come on in then but don't think that next time I will forgive so easily," and she stepped aside to let him in her bedroom, trying to hide a smile when she saw how his face lit up with a wide grin in response to her words.

Flopping himself on her bed and tossing her a spoon, he ripped off the lid of the melting gelato, "So," he said, "what are we watching first?"

_**A/N: Wow, this chapter turned out to be much longer than I expected. I was considering posting half of it at a time, but then I figured I hate it when other authors do that to me! Thank you again for all the lovely reviews; they truly keep my motivated to keep writing! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter; if there's anything you think I missed, or should have added, just know that constructive criticism is very welcome! Here's hoping that tonight's episode 'Pretty in Pink' doesn't disappoint! Please review! IBH x**_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So I wasn't sure if I was going to complete this chapter or not tonight but then I watched **_**Pretty in Pink**_** and all the Dan/Blair scenes were so bittersweet. (Bitter because I know they'll be the last for a while, what with Dan's whole: "I tried to convince myself that I could handle being friends with her but I realised tonight that I can't") And then I watched the promo for next week's episode and Chuck's crazy punching the glass moment, I'm still praying that that wasn't over Blair's head, made me feel sick; **_**please**_** Gossip Girl writers don't go there! So I decided in order to make myself feel better I would write about some Dan/Blair cuteness – or rather Dan cuteness (because damn Penn was looking fine this evening!). I hope you enjoy! Xxx IBH**

**Chapter 4**

Blair woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. Her bed felt a lot cosier than usual, the warmth making her somewhat lethargic and although her pillow, which was normally very soft, felt much firmer than she was used to she found that this only served as further comfort. Snuggling deeper into the covers she felt the arm that had been loosely encircling her automatically tighten, pulling her further towards the source of warmth in her bed. Which is of course when she realised that it wasn't a pillow her head was resting on but rather a chest, Dan Humphrey's to be precise, and that the arm encircling her also belonged to the aforementioned Humphrey. She tried not to panic. She really did. But she was Blair Waldorf and he was Dan Humphrey, and he was in _her_ bed, and she had just woken up in _his_ arms, and worst of all: she had… enjoyed it! Blair Waldorf had _enjoyed_ waking up in the arms of a man who was _not_ Chuck; and not just any man, Dan. _Humphrey._ Ugh! If Gossip Girl could see her now…

With some regret, which she purposefully ignored, she quickly tried to disentangle herself from Dan's hold on her. Finally withdrawing from his embrace, she sprung out of bed and now, with a few feet of space between her and the sleeping man in her bed, she was able to breath again. Looking down at him sprawled out across the covers she tried not to laugh; he was snoring quietly with his mouth slightly agape, his hair was all mussed up (which she _not_ find endearing, _at all_) as were his clothes. His shirt had risen a few inches above his jeans allowing her a peak at the slightly tan skin underneath, her eyes immediately started to follow the trail of hair that led south, her mind slowly wandering. Blair's eyes widened in shock when she realised exactly what she was thinking about and, quickly shaking herself out of her reverie, she grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be her cabbage patch doll, and threw it at the sleeping Brooklynite. She was pleased when it hit his head right on target.

"_What the hell?_" Grumbled Dan, sitting up suddenly and looking around her bedroom in a sleepy daze. When his eyes at last landed on Blair who was standing at the foot of the bed he put two-and-two together, "Waldorf," he muttered, "I'd nearly forgotten how _insane_ you are in the mornings, or you know, _all_ the time. A simple: 'it's time to wake up, Dan' would have been suffice."

"Yes, but where's the fun in that?" retorted Blair with a smug smile in place.

Dan groaned, flopped back down into the mass amounts of pillows that were on her bed and threw his arm over his face trying to shield his eyes from the sun shining in the room, "What time is it?"

"It's time to wake up, Dan!" replied Blair, mimicking his earlier words. A second later a pillow came hurtling threw the air and hit her square on the face. "_Humphrey!" _Blair screeched out in shock and then picking up the pillow made to swing it at her attacker but Dan foreseeing this quickly rolled out of harm's way and unceremoniously fell onto the bedroom floor with a loud thump. Blair laughed loudly as Dan grunted in pain. "And _that_ Humphrey is why you don't –"

A soft knock on her bedroom door interrupted her victory speech and both Dan and Blair froze as Darota's voice came through the door, "Miss Blair," she said quietly, "Mr Chuck is waiting for you downstairs, he says he wants to have breakfast with you… should I send him away?" she asked knowingly.

Panic-stricken, Blair was lost for words, Chuck's voice however seemed to drive her into action mode as he called out, "Blair! I'm coming up! You can't stay mad at me forever!"

With a speed and strength she didn't know she had, she quickly dragged Dan to his feet and passed him his shoes, "Sneak out through Serena's bedroom!" she hissed as she ushered him towards her shared en suite.

"I'm having a serious case of deja vu here, Waldorf," Dan muttered as the bathroom door slammed shut in his face.

…

"Dan!"

_So much for stealth_, thought Dan, who had been hoping his swift exit from the Waldorf's, would go unnoticed. Slightly panicked he looked around for the source of his discovery. "Nate!" he cried out when he finally noticed his friend standing on the opposite side of the road waving his arms at him. A wide grin spread across his face as he quickly crossed the road manoeuvring around New York traffic to greet his friend with a big hug. "How are you, man?"

"I'm great!" Nate responded with excitement, "How are you? How was your trip?"

"It was awesome! I had the most amazing time! I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye before I left!"

"Nah man, don't worry about it! I can't wait to hear all the stories; European parties are something else!"

Dan just laughed at this, "yeah, they definitely are…" he said avoiding any eye contact, "Hey, wanna go get a coffee or something? I could really do with a caffeine hit; I didn't get much sleep last night."

"_Oh, really?"_ asked Nate cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows. And then all of a sudden his mischievous expression dropped when he realized exactly which building he had caught Dan exiting just a few minutes prior. "Wait… You and _Serena_? _Again_? You do realize she has a boyfriend, right?"

"What? No!" cried out Dan, "God no!" he laughed.

"So then what were you doing outside of her and Blair's building?" Nate asked suspiciously.

"Oh, you know, I was just in the uh… neighborhood." Said Dan, inwardly cringing at such a pathetic lie. "Besides," he said, "I couldn't have been here to see Serena, she was at her boyfriend's house last night. I'm sure you can read all about it on Gossip Girl."

"_Right_…" drawled out Nate disbelievingly. Then he laughed loudly, "I'm actually going to believe you on this one Humphrey because the only other option would be that you had stayed the night with Blair; which even by Upper East Side standards would be pretty unbelievable!"

"Right, yeah." Dan muttered, laughing nervously, "Unbelievable."

And then suddenly Nate was bent over laughing, "I mean, can you _imagine_?"

"Oh, come on Nate," said Dan, awkwardly looking around as passers-by gave them weird looks, "It wouldn't be _that_ crazy; I mean you did see the blast from the Pink Party, right?"

"Yeah, it's amongst my collection of _Funniest Home Videos_!" Nate breathed out through laughs.

"Ok," said Dan getting annoyed now, "I'm gonna go, I'll see you later." And he turned around and headed down the street towards the nearest subway.

"Awww come on, man!" Nate yelled out, pushing through the crowd to catch up with him, "Even _you_ have to admit, it would be pretty funny; I mean everybody's reactions alone! I know the idea of you and Blair hooking up disgusts you or whatever, but – "

Dan stopped in his tracks suddenly and turned to face Nate, who had finally caught up with him, "It doesn't disgust me." He said quietly.

Nate was taken aback by the sincerity in his words, "Huh?"

Dan sighed realising the meaning behind what he had just said, "Look, I gotta go, I uh… forgot I had this appointment, so I guess we'll have to have coffee another time. I'll uh… I'll see ya later, Nate."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, _whoa_! You cannot just say something like that and expect to get away with it, Humphrey!" he cried out, once again chasing his friend down the street, "Dan, come on!" he said after finally reaching his friend, clasping a hand on his shoulder and forcing Dan to turn around and face him. "What's going on?" he asked with concern, "I know I was distracted with the whole Raina thing before you went away for the holidays, but that doesn't mean we aren't still friends; _talk_ to me, man!"

"Blair and I are friends." Dan blurted out. Nate stared at him for a second, a smile started to creep up on his face and a small laugh escaped, "And you're _laughing_ again!" Cried out Dan throwing his head back in exasperation, "Great, just, great."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" said Nate, trying to control his laughter, "It's just… well… I thought… I thought you guys – "

"Hated each other?" finished Dan.

"Well… yeah." Said Nate sheepishly, "Does Serena know?"

"Yeah, she's known for a while now. She wasn't too happy about it at first and to be honest I'm not too sure if she's very happy about it now; I haven't actually gotten around to asking her yet." Replied Dan with a slightly guilty expression.

"Right," said Nate, still trying to process things, "and Chuck?"

Dan grimaced, "I'm not sure."

"Huh," said Nate again, at a loss for words now.

"Yeah," Dan chuckled, "'Huh' seems about right."

"So then," Nate said slowly as he put the pieces of the puzzle together, "you _were_ with Blair last night?"

"Well, yeah… but it was completely innocent, I swear! We fell asleep watching a movie."

"Huh," said Nate again, his eyes searching Dan's face for something.

"What?" Dan asked cautiously.

"I just… you _know_ Blair's with Chuck, right?" asked Nate, concern for his friend once again written all over his face.

"Of course!" retorted Dan defensively.

"Like, _ChuckandBlair BlairandChuck_, right?"

Dan rolled his eyes, "Like I said before, Blair and I are _friends_, nothing more."

"But, the idea of hooking up with her doesn't disgust you…" said Nate, raising his eyebrows.

Dan's eyes widened slightly realising the trap he had inadvertently stepped into. Looking around to check that nobody was eavesdropping, he took a small step towards Nate and lowered his voice, "Look," he whispered, "I may have had a small, _teensy, weensy_ crush on her before I left for Europe and yes, I may still find her a _little_ attractive but I mean, she's Blair Waldorf and I have eyes, so I don't think that really says much, I mean _you_ dated her; _you _know what I mean! And she does smell good and she really is intelligent and… and that's beside the point, the point is: I went to Europe to get over her and find myself. And I did. I am completely over that small, irritating and highly inappropriate crush, which never needs to be spoken of or mentioned again. Ever. Because… because I'm over her. And she's with Chuck. And I'm with… I'm with… well; I'm with no one. Which is fine by me, by the way! Because I found myself in Europe; I tried a lot of things the old Dan Humphrey would _never_ have done and I wrote, I wrote a lot about _everything_ that's happened and I've come to terms with it all. Truly, I'm better for it. And… and… and you're _laughing_ again!"

…

Later that day, Dan could be found editing one of the chapters of his novel. This chapter really hadn't been his best work but, to be fair, he had been very hung over when he had started writing it. Dan chuckled to himself as he remembered the night before; Prague had definitely been an adventure.

"Laughing at your own joke, Humphrey? How very _common_ of you."

Dan looked up in surprise to find Blair Waldorf standing at the door to his office, "Don't they teach you how to knock in the Upper East Side?"

"I did knock," she replied, "but _apparently_ you were distracted."

Dan smiled slightly, "Yeah, I've just been doing a bit of editing." And he swore he could see Blair's ears perk up with interest at this, "What brings you to Brooklyn, Waldorf?"

Blair smiled sweetly, "I've decided that Ethan's short films weren't punishment enough; Darota is busy organising a back-to-school cocktail party I'm having tomorrow night, so I'm going to need your help today, Humphrey. As my friend and equal, of course," she added almost as an afterthought.

Dan searched her face warily, "and what _exactly_ do you need help with?"

**A/N: He he my very own version of a cliff hanger :D ... Please review!**


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